Mumbai, February 14 One person died and three others were injured after a section of the girder bridge of the under-construction metro rail line 4 collapsed on several vehicles in Mumbai's Mulund area on Saturday afternoon, police and civic officials said.
A section of the parapet wall of the girder bridge fell near the Johnson and Johnson factory on the arterial LBS Road some time after noon, hitting an autorickshaw and a Skoda car, both of which were badly damaged, they added.
A fire brigade official identified the deceased as Ramdhan Yadav and the injured as Rajkumar Indrajeet Yadav (45), Mahendra Pratap Yadav (52) and Deepa Ruhiya (40).
Rajkumar's condition is critical, and he is in an ICU at a nearby hospital, while Mahendra and Ruhiya are currently stable, the official added.
In a statement, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority said a section of the parapet segment fell at 12:15 pm near pier 196 of the metro line construction near the Mulund Fire Station onto a passing autorickshaw.
The Metro project team is at the site and is working on relief operations and securing the site in close coordination with the BMC and disaster management authorities, the statement said, adding that an investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the collapse.
Line 4 is an under-construction route from Wadala in south-central Mumbai to neighbouring Thane, with a large section passing over the arterial LBS Road connecting areas like Vikhroli, Bhandup, and Mulund.
Attacking the state government, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said a wall had collapsed and the newly inaugurated metro line 3 had been flooded due to heavy rains last year, and asked if the BJP-led dispensation would blacklist the contractor (for the incident).
"It's unlikely that they will blacklist the contractor; perhaps they will impose a fine of a few lakhs and allow the contractor to bid for more tenders," Thackeray said.
"As you can see, the pillars have already been painted before the work was completed. This will cost the state several crores, and then another several crores to repaint them once the work is finished," he said.
Even today, most infrastructure projects have terrible barricading that either leads to traffic jams or vehicles falling into open pits, Thackeray alleged.
"Life has no value under the BJP regime. Falling pieces from metro lines, unsafe modes of transport, cars/bikes falling into open pits with no help for hours. What a shame! Soon, a day will come when countries will issue travel warnings for such things in our country too," the Woli MLA said.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Varsha Gaikwad slammed the state government over the incident and questioned whether the lives of Mumbai residents had "become so cheap".
In a post on X, she said authorities were more focused on publicity around infrastructure projects than ensuring public safety.
The Lok Sabha MP demanded accountability from authorities, raising concerns over alleged lapses in safety measures at the site, particularly given the heavy traffic movement in the area.
She also questioned whether quality and technical safety standards were being compromised in the push to complete metro works quickly, and said repeated announcements of inquiries after such incidents were not sufficient.
"While development is necessary, it should not come at the cost of citizens' lives," she said while calling for strict action against those responsible for the lapse.
